Published : 2024-06-02
On June 2, 1990, the State Bureau of Environmental Protection issued the "Report on the State of the Ecology and Environment in China 1989" (1989年中國環境狀況公報) for the first time, which has been issued annually since.
The report indicated that China's overall atmospheric environment was good. Pollution was mainly concentrated in large and medium-sized cities with coal smoke-type pollution.
The main pollutants were soot and sulphur dioxide. Among them, the pollution from soot was more serious in Beijing, while southern cities were more polluted by sulphur dioxide.
The report also noted that the water quality of China's major rivers was generally good, but the sections flowing through cities were heavily polluted, mostly by industrial wastewater. Urban river sections were more polluted, small rivers more so than large ones, and the situation was worse in the northern cities than in the south.
Regarding environmental protection, the report pointed out that due to the strengthening of environmental management and increased investment, China had made some achievements in pollution prevention and ecological environment protection in 1989.
The report at last indicated that China still faced a severe situation of environmental pollution spreading and ecological deterioration. Therefore, it was necessary, as the report stated, to make unremitting efforts to control population growth and improve environmental awareness for everyone.
